Fertilizing material and process of producing same



UNITED smi es T E F F'I irEitT'ILI'z'iNe', MATERIAL Ate) rnocnss or momma- 'sAilrE.

No Drawing. Original application filed September 12, 1919, Serial No. 323,234. Divided and fthis appli- Specification of Letters Patent.

iatcntcd Mar. 1, 19 21.

cation filed DecemberlE, 1919. Serial No."344,913.

To all 20 ham it may concern SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waipio, in the county of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, have invented certain new and useful Im roveme'nts in Fertilizing Materials and rocesses of Producing Same, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the treatment of fruit juice and more particularly to a process of treating fruit juice whereby certain waste or byproducts, especially those rich in nitrogens, are gathered together and separated out for use as a fertilizer.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter, and in part will be obvious herefrorn, or may be learned by practice with the invention; the same being realized and attained through and by means of the steps and instrumentalities pointed out in the appended claims. 7 j

The invention consists in the novel steps,

sequence of steps, processesand articles or productsherein set forth anddescribed.

The process which is set forth hereinafter is primarily directed to the production of concentrated fruit juice as a beverage, syrup or other article of commerce, and secondarily is directed to the production, as a byproduct, of the fruit juice process just de-' scribed, of a fertilizing material. This fertilizing material is very rich in nitrogen and consists entirely of materials which are waste so far as the fruit juice is concerned, that is, it consists of materials or substances which are originally in the fruit juice and which must be removed therefrom to constitute the fruit juice an acceptable article both commercially and as a comestible; Together therewith are also, one or moresubstances employed as filtration media, that is, materials or substances introduced into the fruit juice to efiect or facilitate the filtration thereof. i

The process will be described as applied to the extraction and subsequent treatment of pineapple juice, although the invention in its broader aspects is'app-licame' to. other kinds of fruit juices. I

This application is a division of my co- )nd-i n application Ser. No. 323,234, filed beptem 'er 12', 1919.

The essentialstepsof the fruit juice treating process, in so far as the securing of the fertilizing material'as a by-product is con cerned is the coagulation of'the proteids, rich in nitrogen, which are inthe fruit juice,

and therewith the other solid and fibrous matte'rs which are in suspension in the fruit,

juice'and which are essential 'to be removed therefrom. These materials are'also rich' in nitrogen and likewise of great value as a fertilizer. Therewith also is usually one or more materials which may be called a filtration medium or media, that" is, one or more materials or substances which are utilized to gather the proteids and other substances referred to as being in 'suspen sion in the fruit juice. This filtration medium not only acts to gather or collect these substances out of the fruit juice preparatory to. filtration, but also holds them and thereby prevents the fouling and stopping of the filters by said materials or. substances.

1 will take byway of example the processing of pineapple juice, and beginning with the expression of the juice from the fruit.

- In the usual commercial process of canning pineapples, large quantities of the juice are produced, which are not utilized in the canning process' In the canning process also a very considerable portion of the pineapples is notntilized, and'is merely waste so far as the canning is concerned, as only the central part of the fruit is cored out in disk form'and'canned, Byfthepres ent proc'ess,the waste or surplus juice resulting from the coring of the fruit for canning, and also the juice from Waste or unused portions of the pineapple is saved. Thejuice used may therefore be that which is usually waste from the canning'process. It'will be clear, of course, that the entire fruit may be utilized if desired, an'd the",

probably caused by the evaporation orbreak'ing down of essential or other organic compounds which impart the characteristicfiavors to the various fruits.

.The juice is extracted froin'the fruit and usually concentrated in a suitable manner.

For most uses, it is desirable or'necessary to clarify the concentrated juice, as in the case of pineapple, the juice obtained by the concentration process is a brown colored-cloudy ters unless some filtration aid is added;

Other clarification agents that might be used are kaoliinspanish clay, casein, egg albumen, etc. In practice I have found it desirable to use between one and threeper cent. of diatomaceous earth, although this proportion or percentage may be very Widely varied.

I To assist both in the clarification of the juice and to secure or effect rapid filtration, heating is desirable, and with many juices itfis practically necessary. Pineapple juice, and other fruit juices as Well, contain a considerable quantity of proteid and-possibly other matter Whichis coagulated by heat. As a practical step in commercial manufacture, the hot juice may be settled prior to and as an aid to filtration, although this step may be dispensed with. After settling, the juice may be decanted or siphoned to the filters. In the process or step of filtration, and referring to pineapple juice as an example, the commercial filters known as Karl .Kiefer filters may be employed with paper pulp pads, although other apparatus or devices may be employed withequally satisfactory results and with other juices. Also With certain juices and in'certain cases, careful settling and decanting or siphoning may be substituted for the filtering, although in most cases the filtering will be found most satisfactory.

The sludge or residue from the filtration in a commercial plant has considerable value, and may be utilized as a fertilizer. The settlings from the concentrated juice will consist of the diatomaceous earth, the coagulated proteid and other matters in the pine apple juice and-also any fiber and other solid matter formerly in suspension in the fresh juice. Thiswill form a sludgewhich will hold a considerable portion of the concentrated juice. As it is desirable to recover this juice, and as the coagulated proteid will contain a high percentage of nitrogen and be valuable as a fertilizer, if separated from the juice, it is desirable to separate the liquid and solid portions of the sludge as thoroughly as possible. This may be done in any suitable manner so far as concerns many features of the invention. One manner of effecting this would be to put the perfectly clear, but is uncontaminated by the press, it can be added to the next batch of'juice in the settling tanks.

If the juice is contaminated by the press or is not of as good quality as desired, it can be limed With burnt lime, milk of lime or carbonate of lime, and filtered after heating and settling. The citrate of lime can be separate as a valuable by-product and the syrup obtained used for canned goods or possibly marketed directly as a syrup. The sludge can bev limed directly, heated and put through the filter press and the syrup used as described above, or as hereinafter described.

After as much as possible of the concentrated juice in the sludge is drained off in the filter press, the press cake should be Washed. If the juice is uncontaminated'by the'press, and no liming is resorted to previous to filtration, the first Washing can be added to the fresh juice in the ice cans, as the Washing Water will probably dilute the remaining concentrated juice in the sludge to about the strength of fresh juice. After the press cake has been Washed it can be applied directly to the fields as a fertilizer, or it may befirst dried, and used or sold as a fertilizer. This cake'or leavings of the filter press, as stated, consists largely of the coagulated proteids from the juice, and fibrous and other solid matter in mechanical suspension in the juice. The clarification of the juice may precede the concentration thereof, should this be desired, but this is not economical by reason of the much greater quantityof liquid Which would have to be filtered or otherwise handled.

It Will. be understood that the invention is applicable to other fruit juices and that departures may be made from the described manner of carrying out the invention Within the scope of the accompanying claims Without departing from the principles. of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

WVhat I claim is j 1. As an article of commerce, a fertilizer juice, and filtering the fruit juice and thereby separating therefrom a fibrous and fruity Vegetable matter, the coagulated proteids and the filtration medium, and compressing them into a compact mass, together to 0011- stitute a. fertilizing-material.

3. The process of producing a fertilizer as a by-product which comprises coagulating the proteids contained in fruit juice and filtering the fruit juice and thereby sep- 10 In testimony whereof I have signed my 15 name to this specification.

MAXWELL O. JOHNSON. 

